Mr. Speaker, despite the minister's rhetoric, the long awaited softwood package announced this week fails on every front. No one is satisfied, not labour, not the companies and not the provincial governments.
Instead of creating common sense programs, the minister has announced spending to try to bolster his fading fortunes in British Columbia.
Workers who have already exhausted their EI benefits as a result of the softwood dispute are being told to go and collect welfare.
Why did the minister's announcement fail to deal with retaining these workers--